How You Remind Me
by Iris RainbowWolf
Summary: Shane and I rarely got along. But some crazy shit was happening and we needed to stick together. I knew how to take care of my self, but Shane was very controlling and insisted on protecting us in this crazy new world. As controlling as my big brother is, there was one thing he couldn't control. My feelings for Daryl Dixon
1. Chapter 1

My brother and I were as different as different could be. Especially for twins. Shane was a cop in some podunk town and I was a waitress at a grimy diner in the backwoods of Georgia. Shane was constantly looking for Mrs. Right, while I was busy with Mr. Right-Now. Which I always found funny, normally it was the other way around. Normally it was the girl looking for her prince charming and a diamond ring. Fuck. That. Shit.

Momma hated it, always wanted to see her little girl walking down the aisle in a big, white, poofy fucking dress. Again I state, fuck that shit.

The guy next to me was a regular at the diner. I glanced over at him, watching the way his bare back rose and fell. He was awake, just by the way he was breathing I could tell. It wasn't the first time we had spent the night together, and I knew that it wouldn't be the last. Yea, the sex was _that_ good.

When Shane's ringtone broke the silence in the small bedroom, I groaned. My brother had been calling nonstop all morning. I just let it go to voicemail each time. My head hurt too much to listen to his bitching.

"Gonna answer that?" the sleep riddled voice spoke from beside me. "Shits been goin' off all day." He had a point. So, groaning, I reached over to the bedside table and grabbed the pack of cigarettes before answering the phone.

"What do you want Shane?" I asked, holding back a yawn.

"' _Are you just now waking up?_ '" Shane asked, his voice already having a bit of a bite to it. "' _Serena, it's one in the afternoon_!'"

"Yes, mother, I understand that," I said, rolling my eyes. He was such a pain in my ass.

"' _You still coming to King County for the weekend?_ '" Smart, changing the subject.

"Yea" I sighed, smoke coming from my mouth as I did. "Yea, I just have to get home and take a shower first."

"' _You're not at your place? Why am I not surprised_."' Shane all but scoffed. He went on to say more, but honestly, I was getting distracted by rough hands roaming up my thigh. Through the phone, I could hear the radio in Shane's car. " _'Alright, Serena, I'll see you later on today_."'

"Mhhmm" was all I could muster. If I were to open my mouth, there was no holding back the moan. This man was fucking _magic_. "Bye" and then the phone was off and on the floor. "I gotta go" I muttered as his hands ghosted higher. "Daryl," I said, a little clearer this time, "I gotta get home."

Daryl just sighed and moved back to lay at my side. At some point, he had found himself between my knees. The second he did, I stretched myself out on his bed, arching my back and giving a slight moan as it popped in all the right places.

"You ain't going nowhere if you keep up with that shit," he told me, plucking the cigarette from my lips.

Shaking my head, I sat up, letting the thin blanket fall from my naked body. Stretching one last time, I looked around Daryl's small room for the clothes I had been wearing last night. Daryl's blue eyes never left me as I shimmied into the tight blue jeans. When I finally found my shirt, I sighed. This thing was absolutely destroyed. We weren't very patient last night. Shaking my head, I just rooted around the clothes that were on the floor.

"You mind?" I asked, holding up one of Daryl's cleaner shirts. "I'll bring it by when I get back on Monday. "

"Nah, go ahead," Daryl told me, looking me over with a slight smirk. "Looks better on you anyway."

"Will you be at the diner on Monday?" I asked before I could stop myself. It wasn't like Daryl and I were dating or anything. So when Daryl shook his head, I was confused as to why I was disappointed.

"Goin' huntin' with Merle. Might not be back til Friday" Daryl told me as he stubbed out the cigarette.

"Mkay," I said with a shrug. "Catch ya later" I added as I walked back over to his bed, leaning over and kissing him deeply before standing and making my way out to my car.

Once back at my little one-room apartment, I made a beeline for the bathroom. It didn't take me long to shower, change and pack up enough clothes for the weekend. Soon enough, I was back in my Pontiac Firebird and was on my way to King County.

* * *

About an hour later, I was making my way to the elementary school. Shane and his best friend Rick wouldn't be out of work for at least another hour. So I told Rick's wife, Lori, that I would meet her at the school when she went to pick up her son.

As I parked my car, it wasn't that hard to find Lori in the sea of moms waiting to pick up their kids.

"Uh-oh," I said as I walked over, a coffee cup in both my hands. "I know that look. Then you get real quiet" I added, handing her a cup. "What's going on?"

"It's nothing" Lori denied, sipping the hot coffee.

"Bull shit" I snorted, earning me a sneering look from some of the women around us.

"We had a fight this morning" Lori sighed. "It got ugly. Hurtful,"

"I'm sorry hun" was all I could say. I was having a fling with a dirty redneck, how could I give a married woman relationship advice? "Men can be jerks." I offered.

"Thing is, if we're being honest, he wasn't the asshole," Lori told me, looking towards the school to see if her son Carl had come out yet.

"Ahh, gotcha" I nodded, sipping my coffee.

"He was trying so hard to be reasonable," Lori continued with a sigh. "It just pushed my buttons all the more. God, sometimes I just wish he'd have it out with me and blow up. Tell me I'm being a bitch if that's what I'm being. Instead, he's just so..." she trailed off with a sigh.

"Don't beat yourself up" I told her, nudging her with my shoulder.

"No? You can't tell me that being pissed at your husband because he _doesn't_ yell at you is even close to being rational." We both sort of giggled at that.

"Yea I don't have that problem...mostly 'cuz I'm single and having the time of my life" I added with a smile.

"So what's this one's name?" she asked. I went to answer her, but the second my mouth opened the sound of a siren broke through the hum in the parking lot. Accompanied by a cruiser zooming passed the cars. Shane.

"Shane, what's going on? Is everything okay?" I asked as Lori and I walked over to him. But judging by the look on my brothers face, no everything was _not_ okay. Lori seemed to notice the same.

"Is he alive?" she asked, tears welling up in her eyes.

"He's in surgery" Shane finally spoke. Just as he did, we heard the school bell ring, and all of the children came pouring out of the school.

"How?" Lori asked, looking to Shane for answers.

"Th-There was a radio call that said that there were two suspects in a car," Shane told her. That must have been the call he got when he was on the phone with me. "But there was a third man. S-Somebody screwed up" he paused, looking at his feet before adding "I screwed up. I did not see him in time, Lori. It's my fault."

"I don't believe that" Lori shook her head.

"Same here. You're not clairvoyant, Shane. There was no way you could have known." I told my brother. We didn't get along on the best of days, but I know that his heart was breaking. Rick was his best friend. His partner. Practically family.

And then, we saw Carl walking towards us. I watched as his little face lit up when he saw me and Shane. It's been awhile since I've been in town, it was good to see the kid again.

"What do I say?" Lori asked as Carl walked over to us. "How do I tell my son his fathers been shot?"

"You don't have to do it alone," I told Lori softly. But she just shook her head and walked over to her son. I watched as she knelt in front of his. As his little face scrunched up and he started crying.

"So who's the guy?" Shane asked.

"Not the time Shane."

* * *

We spent hours at the hospital. It was that night that I called the diner and told my boss, Jesse, that I wouldn't be in for a while. After explaining to him what had happened, he understood completely and told me that my job would be there when I got home.

The plan was to stay with Lori. With Rick being put into a coma, she was going to need all the help she could get with her twelve-year-old son. She tried to tell me to go home, to get back to my life. But I told her to suck it up, I was staying.

We'd had dinner in the hospital cafeteria. Contrary to popular belief, it was really good. Once we were done eating, I took Carl home so that he could sleep in his own bed. The boy tried fighting it, saying that he wanted to stay with his mom and Shane. But Lori told him no. He didn't need to be there.

Multiple times that night, I thought about calling Daryl. I needed someone to talk to. We were friends, sure, but really it was just about the sex.

Instead of dialing the number, however, I tossed the phone back onto the bed with a sigh. I had put Carl to bed hours ago, and I was still awake. Watching the news wasn't something I normally did, but there was nothing else on and I was bored as all hell.

There was a random story about some flu that was going around. The newscaster saying that though everything was under control, people should still be on the lookout for certain signs. With a light scoff, I turned off the TV and curled up under the blankets.

Hopefully, I would get some sleep before I took Carl to the hospital tomorrow.

* * *

 **AN: And there's chapter one of yet another TWD story. Should I really be working on this story, when I have like a bajillion more to work on and post? Not really, no, but oh well. lol.**


	2. Chapter 2

It had been a month since Rick was shot and the doctors put him into the coma. It was hard seeing my friend and my brother go through all of this. But I did what I could to help. I brought Carl to school and made us all dinner, not that I was very good at cooking.

In the entire month, I had been in King County, I had only talked to Daryl once. Mostly it was to tell him what was going on, to let him know that I wouldn't be back in town for a while. But I also promised him that the weekend after I got back, I was locking us in my apartment and we weren't leaving my bedroom until Monday morning.

While Lori was at home, cleaning for the millionth time, I was picking up some groceries. Plus trying to just get a moment to myself.

There had been so many news reports in the last few weeks. A kid over in California saw his girlfriend literally eating the face off of one of his friends. And when she came after him, he had run out into the street. The kid got hit by a car after that. He was a known junkie, so no one believed him.

But since then, there had been other reports. The Center for Disease Control had said that there was some kind of flu going around, and to be on the lookout for anyone who seemed infected.

So as I perched myself against the hood of my car, smoking a cigarette, I looked out over the grocery stores parking lot. With my aviators blocking my eyes, I people watched. Everyone was happy, coming in and out of the store. Kids were either whining or giggling with their hands sticky with candy.

But no one seemed sick. So that was a plus.

Taking one last drag from my cigarette, I grabbed my purse and walked into the store. I paused for a second once inside, just to enjoy the air conditioning. It was hot as _balls_ outside. This was one brutal fucking summer.

Deciding that it was too nice of a day to cook dinner inside, I made my way to the section that the store had displayed all of their 'cookout' stuff. Burgers, hotdogs, buns, and chips. I could actually cook on a grill. Stovetop always annoyed me.

I also figured that since the Grimes family had a fire pit, that s'mores would be a nice treat for Carl.

Halfway through my shopping, Shane called me. "Yes, big brother?" I drawled into the phone as I wandered down the pasta aisle. Shane was older by five minutes, but he always made it seem like it was five years. He was a pain in my ass.

"' _Where are you? Are you still at the store?"'_ he asked Shane's voice was almost frantic as he spoke.

"Yes," I drew out.

"' _Get back to Lori's, Serena,_ _ **now**_."'

"What's..." but Shane didn't let me finish.

" _'For once in your life don't question me, Serena, get here._ '" Shane ordered.

And then the prick hung up. Sighing, I hit the 'end' button and threw my phone back into my purse. It only took me fifteen minutes to finish up my shopping, and another twenty standing in the check out line.

The parking lot was empty when I finally got out to my car. In fact, my little trans am was the only car in the parking lot. For some reason, that fact sent chills down my spine. I practically threw the groceries into my back seat before pushing the shopping cart away from me. Something about being alone in the parking lot wigged me the fuck out.

Once I was behind the wheel and strapped into my seat, I took a calming breath. What was there to be afraid of anyway. This was King County. The worst that went wrong here was the occasional drunk stumbling home at two AM.

It was when I started to pull my car out onto the street where I saw... well, I don't really know for sure what the hell I saw. It was a man. Or it _looked_ like a man. His clothes were ripped and bloody. There was blood and chunks of flesh hanging and dripping from his jaw. All I could hear was my heart pounding in my ears and the stranger's bloody fingernails scraping at my car window. Leaving bloody streaks on the glass. When he started growling, snarling like some kind of monster, that's when I revved my engine and pulled out of the parking lot as fast as I possibly could.

I didn't give two shits about the speed limit as I raced back to Lori's house. Thankfully there was no traffic and the few cars that were still on the road, I swerved around with ease.

Adrenaline was humming in my veins, I could feel it coursing through my body as I sped through the streets of King County. With shaking fingers, I switched on my staticy radio and tried, twisting the nobs to hear the news as best as I could. After a minute I found the station I was looking for and my breath caught in my throat.

They were evacuating. Setting up safe zones in major cities.

Logically, I thought that this was the reason Shane wanted me back at the house so fast. Otherwise, he would have let me finish grocery shopping, especially since I was supposed to be making burgers later.

As I pulled into the Grimes' family driveway, I was hoping to see Shane standing there with Lori and Carl. But they weren't there. Shane's Tahoe was missing from its usual spot and there were tire marks on the pavement.

Just fucking great.

I could only hope that Shane, Lori, and Carl had gone to the hospital so that they could go to Atlanta with Rick.

So, without even killing the ignition, I ran to the front door. And of course, it was fucking locked. Shit. Shit shit shit shit. There had to be a hide-a-key around here somewhere. I was not above breaking and entering if it came to it.

Thankfully, it didn't come to that. After I unlocked the door, I ran straight to the spare bedroom that I've been inhabiting the past few weeks. I hadn't brought much with me when I came to King County, so it didn't take long for me to throw everything into my duffel bag and ran back out to my car. My next stop was the hospital, hopefully, my brother would still be there.

* * *

But he wasn't there. I didn't see his car in the parking lot. And as I made my way through the halls of the hospital, all I saw was dead bodies. Resisting the urge to fucking puke, I slowly crept up to Ricks room. I needed to see if he was still there, alive or not.

His room was blocked by a gurney, with my heart pounding in my ears, I pushed the rolling bed out of the way, and opened the door.

He was still there. Hooked up to his machines and just... _there_. I honestly don't know if I should be relieved or not.

Slowly I crept towards my friend. I wasn't a doctor, I was a waitress, but I knew how to check for a pulse. And, miraculously, Ricks was still strong. Sighing with relief, I threw my self down in the chair next to his bed.

Where the fuck was my brother?

Should I try for Atlanta? Or should I stay here, protect my friend as best as I could.

Yea, it took me two seconds to decide. Letting out a shaky breath, I made my way back out to the hall.

It was when I was on my way back to my car that I saw the door. 'Don't Open Dead Inside'. Well, that sounded sufficiently fucking terrifying.

If I said that I wasn't nervous wandering thought he abandoned halls of the hospital, then I'd be a fucking liar. It was creepy as shit. Blood splattered the walls, and corpses littered the hallways.

My breath came out in rapid huffs as I crept down the stairs and through the halls. Stepping over bodies as I went. There was no one, literally fucking no one here but me and Rick.

Suddenly, as I made it to the waiting room, I heard the shuffling. The groans and growls. And they were close. Whipping my head to the side, I saw one of those... _things_ coming towards me. I acted instinctually when I shoved the rotted looking nurse reach for me.

Her stringy once-blonde hair was matted and rust colored. The blue scrubs she wore were soaked in blood. I could even see the gaping wound in her thigh. All in all this chick looked like absolute _shit_. And I'm not too proud to say that I whimpered in fear as a response as I shoved her arms away from me and fucking _ran_.

I would be safe in my car, where I kept the big ass buck knife my fellow waitress gave me for my birthday. She had said that considering who I was sleeping with, I should learn to keep it with me. Not for protection though, no. My waitress friend, Tally, was under the impression that Daryl and I were more than just a casual fuck. If Daryl and I had been more than we were, then I had no doubt that he would take me hunting with him.

By the time I was safe in the driver's seat of my trans am, my lungs were burning with every breath. I wasn't out of shape by any means, but having to run for my life was different than the occasional jog I would take before work.

I didn't waste any time grabbing my purse, duffle bag and of course the knife from my glove box. Before shouldering my bags, I put the sheath of my knife into my purse and gripped the pink-ish handle tightly.

The long dead nurse was still milling about the waiting room when I made my way back into the hospital. Twisting my knife in my hand, I debated on whether I should try to take her out or not. From what I could tell, she had already been shot a few times in the chest. But the rest of the bodies littering the floor all had bullet wounds to the head.

Didn't take a fucking genius to figure out that a headshot got the job done. The real question was, should I try or not? According to the news, all it took was a bite from one of these monsters to kill you. Honestly, I didn't feel like dying today. There was shit I still had to do. Plus, coma-Rick was depending on me to look out for him.

Moving as slow as I possibly could, I stalked around the dead chick. Truthfully I was too fucking terrified to run. I barely even breathed as I circled the waiting room and crept my way to the hallway.

Fuck. My. Life.

The bitch noticed me. Just. Fucking. Great. Letting out a very unflattering mix of a shriek and whimper, I started backing up. I wasn't going to try and kill her unless I absolutely had too. A second later, my back was on the bloody linoleum.

"No. No. No. Fucking shit. Bitch. No" I whimpered. My knife finding its way into every part of this dead bitch's shoulder and neck. I had one hand pressing up into her nasty scrubs and it was the only thing keeping her... it from eating my pretty face off.

Blood poured for the dead nuse and spewed out onto my face and ran down my arms. Finally I was able to move my hand to shove the blade through the back of her scull. Suddenly, the growls stopped. Dead bodies were fucking _heavy,_ by the way. With a grunt I shoved the body off of me, then groaned in distgust. I really hoped th shower in Ricks bathroom worked, I was covered in blood and it's fucking disgusting.

It didn't take long to get back to Rick's room and barricade the door with the useless end table. After making sure my friend still had a pulse, I grabbed a clean shirt out of my bag and went to take a quick shower. Thankfully the plumbing still worked, for now at least.

I couldn't stay in this room forever though. I knew that. Whether Rick lasted another night or another week, I still needed to get food. And medical supplies, Rick's injury would still need to be cleaned and monitored. Plus I still had groceries in my car, alot of which would spoil soon and I wasn't planning on having my ride reek of rotted food.

So, once I was clean, I sat on the chair and planned. I wasn't leaving this room without my knife, that was for damn sure. Going to check Lori and Rick's house was first on my list of things to do. My plan was to gather whatever I could from there, or at least enough food to last me a few days.

On the other hand, the thought of leaving the safety of this room was paralyzingly fucking terrifying. I had to spend the next few minutes bribing myself with the big-ass bag of weed in my purse. Thankfully my pain in the ass brother didn't know about it. If Shane knew I had an ounce of White Rhino in my bag, he flush it before I could even enjoy it.

If I wanted to get stoned, I needed to get back to the house. My pipe was in my back pack, which I had left in the closet.

So after I hooked my knife onto my belt, and shugged on a blue plaid shirt, I crept my way back into the hallway. My knife was gripped tightly and my muscles were wound tight as I walked.

That fucking door was still creepy as fuck. I could actually hear the dead on the side trying to get at me. And their fingers pushed through the crack in the door. Someone had done this not took long before I got here, that was for sure.

My knuckles were white against the handle of my knife. Other than the growling from behind the door, I didn't hear any other of those monsters.

So that was good news, I guess.

The dead nurse was still laying in a pool of blood on the waiting room floor. I couldn't help but keep my eyes on her as I walked by. I knew she was dead, like dead-dead. But there was still that part of me that was terrified that she would jump out at me. Logically I knew that it was impossible, but impossible things were happening lately.

My nerves were still on edge as I unlocked my car and started going through the bags in the back seat. Ice cream, freeze pops, frozen steaks and other meats all had to be thrown away. Instead of just tossing everything out on the ground I took all of the meat out of their packages. There was probably some animal running loose that could probably use a snack. The strays could use the meat more than I could right now.

Rick and Lori's house wasn't that far from the hospital. It was a small town, everything was close to everything. So it didn't take long to get back to the house.

Pictures were still missing from the walls, and the drawers were still bare. Thankfully, my backpack was still in the closet where I left it. I didn't have much in the bag, just a sweat shirt and a few books. And my beautiful glass pipe of course.

I couldn't help the twinge of disappointment that spread through my chest. Some naive part of me thought that maybe my big brother would have come back for me. Shane is such a fucking asshole.

Walking through the house, going room to room, I gathered what I could. Thankfully Lori still had a lot of canned food left in the cupboards, and some snack foods they had left behind. Between what I had in my car already, and the food I had just grabbed, I had enough to last me a few days. Hopefully.

Biting my lip, I looked around the living room. I had already taken the pillows and blankets off of the bed in the guest room. What else did I need?

Weapons.

Rick had to have a gun or two around here some where. Most likely in their bedroom. So I made the trip up the stairs to where the master bedroom was located.

Just as I thought, there was a small lock box under the giant, king sized bed. It was unlocked and. Except for the empty box of ammunition. Just my fucking luck. Sighing, I looked around the room to see if there was anything else I might need. There wasn't.

But walking back towards the door, I noticed something that I didn't see on my innitial sweep of the bedroom. Behind the opened door, was a shiny, silver baseball bat.

That would work.

A few minutes later, I was loading my finds into the back seat one handed. My knife still gripped in the other hand.

I don't think Rick would mind that I stole his bat.

* * *

It took me a few trips to bring all of my stuff up to Rick's hospital room. If I didn' t need to defend myself, then it would have take few. But I wasn't that lucky. I almost lost my loaf of bread when I had to kill two more of the gross as fuck dead people.

But it was worth it.

Once I had barricaded myself in the hospital room, I checked on Rick once more, and made myself a nest of blankets and pillows in the corner.

My friend didn't need anything immediate, so I decided to save my trip for tomorrow. But even though Rick seemed fine, I wondered how long he could last without the machines that had died out on him. I planned on staying with him until his chest stoped rising and falling. After that...

I have no. Fucking. Clue.


End file.
